


Draco Malfoy, a Unicorn and Nargles

by Ineednoroses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Character, Bullying, F/F, Fluff, Genderfluid, Harry is bad at feelings, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Homophobia, I'm Bad At Tagging, Light Angst, Lucius bashing, M/M, Neville is a sweetheart, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, POV Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley Bashing, Sorry Ron, Unicorns, Veela Draco Malfoy, briefly mentioned, i actually really like ron, in the past, malfoy is sad, malfoy needs a hug, past Blaise Zabini/Draco Malfoy, platonic Draco Malfoy/Luna Lovegood, snape the painting is done with this shit, why is that not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 15:55:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4925812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ineednoroses/pseuds/Ineednoroses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco comes back for his eighth year of Hogwarts after the war is finished, where he deals with some issues, makes friends, learns some stuff and might just fall in love.</p><p>NEWLY EDITED 1/11/16</p><p>Currently on hiatus but I have not forgotten this fic, I will come back to it when I feel inspired again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loony and the love of good.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is my first fic on this site, so I hope it's alright. I might make some grammatical and spelling errors so feel free to point them out. I hope you like it, no abuse please. There's a non graphic description of rape after the first ∆. If you find this potentially triggering please skip over it. Any constructive criticism or comments would be appreciated, I'm not sure if I should continue with the story, but if you think I should please tell me. Thanks :)

 Draco Malfoy, to be so trapped by the Malfoy name, the very things he used to mock Granger for he wished he could become, without the crushing weight of an ancient and supposedly noble name. Where had that nobility gone when Voldemort invaded his house, his sanctuary?

Your head's full of rackspurts, did you know?" A quiet and melodious voice inquired. 

Draco whipped his head around and stared at the figure behind him - and saw a soft smile playing on a familiar face - Loony Lovegood. 

"I didn't," he automatically answered, confused by the strange question, from an even stranger individual. 

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Loony asked, looking over at where Draco is standing. He had made a point of spending as little time as possible with his fellow eighth years, to escape the suffocating judgement that stalked him like the Grim, had come down to the forbidden forest. His old fears of the forest were most likely lost when he had the first crutiatus used on him, or maybe when Grey- 

An odd form of companionship is what he found with the strangely shy leathery creatures, he found comfort in the peace and tranquillity of the thestreals. He nodded, short and sharp. 

"You can only see them, if you have seen death." She spoke calmly, without a hint of judgement on her serene face, as though she had seen hell and simply understood horror. Perhaps it was the time in his family home, ruled over by a crueller dictator than before, or perhaps she had seen worse tortures than dearest Aunt Bellatrix had seen fit to give. 

He nervously clasped and unclasped his hands, anxious under her attention.

This was not the last time she found him with his creatures, every time he escaped the castle to the forest, she seemed to sense him. They spent many hours, neither mentioning what had happened in the war and in the Malfoy Manor in particular. Her insistent presence, he found both perplexing and mildly amusing. It almost reminded him of the past, a time before all of this, when a fierce boy with Avada green eyes, just-fucked hair, and a lightning bolt scar.

Whilst his days were mostly filled, his nights grew difficult and tense, the idea of sleep taunting him, until he made the mistake of giving in and the nightmares that followed- Cold hands, a voice as rough as sandpaper, a smile as cruel an sharp as a dagger, and the pain, the agony of the violation. He didn’t want! Why wouldn’t he stop? Merlin, why would no one help him -

Hopeless

Worthless

Ruined

Whore

He woke up with a start, drenched in sweat and tears, gasping with tightly closed eyes and shaking limbs. Just a dream, just a dream, he repeated in his head. Just a memory. With uneven breaths, Draco slowly heaved himself out of bed. Fear poisoning his veins still, Draco slowly prepared to face the day. He faced the mirror, but all he could see was a ghost. A boy that died in the war. He ducked his head as he ducked out of his room, and the common room ignoring the whispers. At least the eighth year had their own rooms.

Ignoring fearful and hateful glances of those passing him by, Draco stepped into the main hall, desperately wishing he had snuck in early to eat. Jaw tight, he made his way to the depleted Slytherin house table; many Slytherin students too afraid or too ashamed to come back after the war. The sober attitude dampening the mood of the house tables occupants, Draco took a seat by himself, the only eighth year, besides Blaise, brave (or foolish) enough to re-do their seventh year at Hogwarts.

Deep in thought and still shaking off the memory of his nightmare, Draco shocked fully awake at the clattering of a person seating themselves in one of the - many - empty seats surrounding him. Loony had gracelessly positioned herself opposite him and was watching him with a calm expression, Draco returned her gaze with a confused expression. What was a Ravenclaw doing at the Slytherin table - and next to him? Loony just raised one eyebrow and simply said, "Good morning.' In a pleasant tone of voice.

He slowly nodded at her, with a slight edge of wariness. 

"It's a lovely morning," she brightly spoke. 

He nodded again.

They continued in relative silence for a while, whilst Draco looked around he noticed a series of confused stares directed towards him and Loony, especially from the Griffindoor table - where the Golden Trio stared in blank confusion, with an air of disgust and malice - from Weasley - with a nasty scowl twisting his face, and a slightly thoughtful expression from Granger, whilst Potter's deep green eyes displayed no obvious emotion. Obviously, he wasn’t even worthy of hatred. 

When Loony had - obliviously - finished her food, she got up and left with a soft touch to his clenched fist, opening it up. With an emotion that Draco could not place, he watched to blonde girl go. The next day he watched Luna come back. Every day Luna and he would spend hours together, sometimes in silence, otherwise with soft spoken words from the girl, comments of Elf Rights or the Quibbler, or Battles, or Granger. Especially Granger.

Perhaps he had made, if not a friend, then at least an ally.  He should have known better. Visiting school toilets always seemed to end in suffering for him.

"You slimy Slytherin bastard!" The Weasel shouted at him, spittle flying everywhere. The Weasel's complexion had turned a delightful shade of red, clashing awfully with his hair. Draco lay defenceless on the floor of Moaning Myrtle's toilet, having been disarmed by the ginger git. His wand lay several metres away, out of reach, then all of a sudden the Weasel came closer - far too close. All of a sudden, all he could feel was the wet breath on his face and the unwanted proximity bring forth memories best left forgotten and discarded. Squeezing his eyes closed, he felt unwanted hands pull at his hair, lifting his chin. 

"Look at me!" The Weasel screamed at him.

When Draco refused to open his eyes, he felt a sharp sting of pain, as his head was violently hit to the side. How very muggle. More hits kept coming, his anger rendering him incapable of rational thought, the blows kept coming. More pain. Curling in on himself, Draco felt his consciousness start to drift as the rain of blows increased and he coughed wetly.

Then it stopped. 

Draco could here laboured breathing and a whoosh of air as something was pulled from a pocket. Oh, no oh Merlin no. Not his wand. Whatever was left of Draco Malfoy would die.

 "Ron!" A voice called out, the door of the toilet crashing open. 

There were sudden footsteps approaching. 

"What are you doing to him?" A familiar voice demanded. Perhaps he was there to rescue him? 

"He provoked me." Weasel stated.

 The other voice, which he managed to discern as Potter's, spoke. "Don't give him what he wants."

Draco laughed hysterically from his position on the floor, as his heart shattered, rolling his body to sit up, his body protesting in agony.

Both Potter and Weasel stared at him and Draco continued to laugh hysterically, spiting blood at the floor whilst looking Weasel right in his piggy little eyes. 

The toilet door, once again, swung open.

"Get away from him!" Demanded Luna in a decidedly angry tone.

She rushed towards Draco, who had begun to shake with sobs after the laughter disappeared, breaths coming quickly - his state of mind dissolving in panic as memories of being touched invaded his mind.  

Soft and gentle hands worried at him. "It's alright, Draco. He can't hurt you anymore, he's gone and he isn't coming back.” How did she know?

“I know and it’s going to be alright, he's dead. I know he hurt you, I remember your pain, he hurt me too.”

Breaths evening, he looked at Luna closely, she knew, and she cared about him. Someone cared, a warm feeling filled his heart.

Luna turned back to Weasel and Potter, "Get out."

Potter started, "Luna -"

"Get out." Luna raised her wand, voice cool and steady.

Luna moved closer as the door swung shut. Reaching out, she placed her hand with his on the floor.

She cared. Someone cared.

He wasn't alone anymore. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left a kudos, commented or bookmarked this work, or even just read it and thought, hey it isn't awful :)

The next few weeks were tough, to say the least. Suspicious glances from both students and teachers stalked him where ever he was, he had even heard an outrageous rumour that he had an illegal potion selling business, which he owed large amounts of debt to, and that’s why he had a split lip and black eye. Not that the truth was much better, he thought to himself, assaulted by a Weasley, how embarrassing. Not that he had much pride left these days.

Solace was still found in the form of a temporary reprieve whenever he was with Luna, his heart soared at the prospect of having someone he could maybe call friend. When he was with Luna and the quiet companionship of the thestreals he gained hop for the future. Even though the real Draco Malfoy was dead, maybe the impostor that he was could rise from the ashes and form a better person. Someone deserving of being called friend.

One icy morning in October Draco was in the forbidden Forest working on his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, scratching away at his parchment in a way he could only focus in the presence of Luna.

"I see the way you look at him." Luna spoke, her soft voice breaking the silence.

Immediately Draco tensed, and his scratching stopped. They hadn’t spoken of the Bathroom Incident, since it had happened. Draco couldn’t help but feel anxious, waves of nervous energy caused by adrenaline as his breaths came shorter, his hand holding his quill tapping nervously at his snowy white parchment.

"I'm the same way." Luna confided, moving her hand to link with his as they sat on the cold forest floor, he could almost feel Luna’s warmth reaching out to him, easing the knot in his stomach.

“I don’t know what you mean” he lied unconvincingly.

Luna breathed out softly, almost a laugh, “I’m in love as well, and they tried their best to break me too. We’re the same.”

Everyone has two faces: the one we show the world, and the one we keep for ourselves, she could see his face. It made him feel broken open and vulnerable, in a way he hadn’t felt since his mother read him bed time stories to get him to sleep, because no one else could manage it. Though, he can never recall feeling as safe as he does in this moment.

“You don’t have to talk to me about it if you aren’t ready, but I’m here for you if you need to. I saw you, the look in your eyes when you snuck in the dungeons to give me food, even after he tortured you. I have never owed so much to any one person, and I want us to be friends, if we aren’t already, not because I owe you, or because you feel like you owe me too, but because we care.” There was a heavy silence thickening the air with a blanket of tension.

"I'll be your friend, I’ve never had a real friend before, not one that really cared" Draco spoke quietly, shocked by her words, yet impressed by her uncomfortable truths, he had never heard her talk that much, not ever. Luna Lovegood, it appeared, consisted of more complexities than immediately met the eye.

Then Luna smiled, a bright and deliriously happy expression gracing her face.

Draco, could not help but feel awed and oddly vulnerable by her sincere expression; never in all of his life, had Draco ever made anyone look like that. An odd warmth spreads swept through him, at the idea of having a friend - a true friend - for the first time.

The air was practically vibrating with tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, and for once it wasn’t because of him. Across the hall Draco could see a bushy haired Granger angrily shouting at Ron, although he couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. As Granger aggressively pointed at Weasel, Draco found a smirk gracing his face, using up muscles so long out of commission, until Granger looked at him and –

Oh, shit she looks pissed. He’d rather by attacked by her rat faced boyfriend, it was clear she was resourceful, she could probably kill Draco and make it look like an accident without even breaking a sweat. Anxious, smirk slipping from his face, Draco returned to playing with his food, appetite gone.

Smack! A large sound sound reverberated throughout the Great Hall, Draco looked up sharply from his breakfast in time to see a teary and furious looking Hermione Granger with her hand raised, and Weasel's cheek stained red, clashing quite disastrously with his hair. Pale eyebrows raised, Draco watched in a kind of fascinated horror as Granger swept towards the Slytherin table, where Luna and he sat, and stared openly at the approaching Gryffindor.

As Granger got closer, she stopped in front of Draco and Luna, and as she looked at him with wet eyes, Draco could not help but feel a slight empathy towards her. "I'm so sorry." She whispered to Draco, voice filled with deep emotion, he couldn't describe.

Then, as soon as she approached, she was gone, whispers following her departure like angry hornets.

Draco turned to face Luna, and as he watched her soft, open expression, a sudden, dawning comprehension came to the Slytherin. As he thought back it all made sense: all of her looks towards a certain Gryffindor, her voice filled with strong emotion as she spoke of Granger, and the words "I'm just like you" echoed to him, finally making sense.

Perhaps they were more alike than he would have ever thought.

∆ After dinner in the great hall, Draco found himself in the library working on his potions essay, drifting away from the conflicts of his day and clearing his mind.

"Just talk to him-" a voice whispered from behind him.

"I can't-" another voice responded, unsuccessfully attempting to be quiet.

"Come on," the first voice continued, it sounded familiar, "don't you care what happens to zir?"

As they conversed, they gradually grew louder, until Draco found himself unable to concentrate, and extraordinarily irritated, Draco interrupted their dialogue.

"Do you mind," he demanded hotly, turning around to see Longbottom look thoroughly embarrassed, and Luna's usually dreamy expression brought into focus, by a distinctly smug expression.

"You meant for me to hear, didn't you?" He enquired to Luna, sighing loudly in exasperation, all anger evaporating into irritation.

Luna just smiled, whilst Longbottom looked mildly scandalised by the idea.3 "Go on Neville, ask him" Luna instructed, pushing Longbottom forward lightly.

"Well I-" Longbottom started.

"We" Luna interrupted.

Longbottom shot her a dark look. "We have found something that might be of interest to you and I, I mean we-" Longbottom stopped suddenly, averting eye contact and gritting his teeth.

"Go on." Luna prompted.

"Need your help." Long bottom concluded, forehead scrunched, as if in pain.

Draco raised a singular blond eyebrow, and looked Longbottom up and down, he’d never had much interaction with Longbottom before, he wasn’t particularly surprised, he’d heard a lot about his parents from dear Aunty Bella, before girl Weasel’s mother put her down.

"Alright." Draco spoke. It was worth I just for the look of shock on Longbottom’s face.

Things were certainly changing at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the lovely comments, I really appreciate it <3 I'm also really sorry for the late update but I've had lots of school work and family drama, thanks for being patient.

“Where the bloody hell are you two taking me?” Draco inquired irritably, as he stumbled through the forbidden forest in the dead of night.

“You'll see.” Luna replied ominously, Draco was beginning to suspect she had a flair for the theatrical. Not that he minded, he was of course his mother’s son.

All of a sudden they came to a small clearing and Draco waited impatiently for either of them to explain themselves. 

Neither did. Shifty bastards.

As silence settled like a blanket on the clearing, Draco surveyed the area curiously and noticed something.

A pile of white rags.

Splashes of silver and red.

Then the pile moved.8 Startled, Draco let out an involuntary gasp and stumbled backwards, he could feel it.

The magic of a unicorn, as pure as anything a wizard could ever encounter. 

Draco squeezed his eyes closed, taking in a deep breath.

After all these years, his secret would be discovered by a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor, no less. He slowly opened his eyes, but clearly this was no illusion. He released his breath.

“I was right.” Luna stated, studying Draco's reaction intently.

Neville only looked confused, his head tilted to the side like a puppy.

Draco swallowed slowly, and opened his mouth. “You were,” he conceded to Luna.

“So you can help.” Luna said again, stating a fact.

“I-I can.” He replied nervously, licking his dry lips.

Neville looked between Luna and Draco slowly, before dawning comprehension stuck him.8

Neville let out a sharp exhale, but spoke softly. “You're a-”

“Yes.” He replied.

“Draco Malfoy is not a fucking veela!” Neville exclaimed.

“He fucking is.” Draco dryly returned, pushing away his nerves.

“But you don't look-”

Neville stopped as Draco strode past him, clipping his shoulder.

Slowly Draco waved his hand across his face, muttering the spell, and dropped the illusion, whilst raising his hood.

Walking purposefully towards the unicorn, he dropped to his knees before the sweet creature, letting all thoughts of discovery fade.

He gently placed his long fingers on the unicorn's silvery throat, muttering words in another tongue taught to him by a long missed grandmother.

This innocent creature would live as long as Draco had breath in his body.

The unicorn began to sleepily rouse, as Draco carefully carded his fingers through soft fur, soothing zir. He then took off his cloak, and slowly wrapped zir in it, as delicately as he could. Slowly, Draco rose, cradling the tiny unicorn in his arms, and turned and raised his eyes to where Luna and Neville stood in shock. Eyes transfixed on his face.

“B-but you're beautiful.” Neville whispered eyes full of wonder, staring at the boy before him almost completely unrecognisable, all radiant beauty.

Dread raced through him. He had forgotten put his illusion back up before turning to face them, too many found themselves bewitched at the sight. 

Swallowing his anxiety at the situation Draco spoke, “I'll get zir back to the castle, I will take care of zir and-” Draco stepped taking a shaking breath, “please don't tell anyone.”

Looking down, Draco waited in the painfully silence for someone to speak, for anyone to break the impenetrable silence.

“We won't tell.” Neville's voice spoke, voice still full of shock and awe.

“And we won't hurt you.” Luna continued. “Besides I'm a lesbian.”

“And I'm asexual.” Neville confided.8 When Draco finally looked up, he felt sincere and overwhelming gratitude to these two people.

Clearing his throat, Draco spoke “I'll need unicorn milk, zir’s only a baby.”

“I can get it.” The herbologist confidently stated.

Nodding, Draco began to move towards the duo, too drained from healing to lift his glamour one again.

Turning and walking back to the castle, the trio continued together in companionable silence, another alliance, if not a friendship had been formed.

None of the trio noticed transfixed eyes following Draco's form lustily back to the castle.


End file.
